Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) on Thursday blamed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for the “coup attempt” on Jan. 6 when a group breached the U.S. Capitol in support of former President Donald Trump.
O’Rourke told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Cruz is “just as culpable” as Trump for inciting the “sedition” as he contested the 2020 presidential election results. The failed 2020 presidential candidate called on Cruz and others who fought the results to be “expelled” or “forced to resign.”
“[U]nless we hold those responsible accountable for what they did and yes, that means Donald Trump, but it also means the junior senator from the state of Texas — who I understand is vacationing in Cancun right now when people are literally freezing to death in the state that he was elected to represent and serve — when Ted Cruz helps to incite that sedition, seeks to overturn a lawfully, legitimately, democratically-decided election, he is just as culpable for the insurrection, the coup attempt, the deaths, including of Capitol police officers who were trying to defend his life and the lives of others who serve in our Capitol,” O’Rourke stated. “If these folks are not held accountable; if Ted Cruz is not expelled, he’s not forced to resign, then what you have done is you have set the precedent that it is OK to try to overturn an election, to try to overturn our government. And the proudest democracy on the face of the planet will become a memory if we do not fight for it right now. So, we should take no comfort in the fact that Joe Biden was successfully sworn in. No comfort in the fact that Congress seems to be operating as normal. This thing is on a roll right now.”
O’Rourke also brought up the popular “big lie” comparison that many Democrats and those in the media have used regarding Trump and his supporters.
“[I]f you look at the Beer Hall Putsch in Germany, 1923, it was 10 years later that Hitler is chancellor. We are operating under the big lie right now in America. We’ve got to stop it. That is up to all of us in this great democracy,” he added.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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